Due to hurricane wilma my car flooded through the doors and my carpets are still damp to this day. What should I use other then towels to get rid of the dampness? How do I know if I have mold? Does it take a while for mold to form? Is it safe to drive the car, or is it not safe for my health?

What should I do? I sprayed some mold/mildew spray, and plan on vacumning the car today.

 

Does it start?
Leave the windows down (if you can where you live), get your wet dry vac and go to town. If it stays closed up and damp your going to have a mold problem.
If you have mold you will be able to smell it or see it. It's safe to drive as long as your sure the computers, relay's and other electrical items are dry.
We had tropical storm Gaston come through and had flooded cars coming in by the 100's
we were able to save a good number of them, so if it just flooded as bad as you say it should be ok.

 

ya everything drives fine but it the car was closed for a few days after it was flooded (visible water on the carpets) because it was raining. I've tried to leave the doors/windows open a few days since, and used towels to get rid of the dampness. Is it hazardous to my health to drive the car?

 

Your nose will tell you for the most part. If it smells bad then you need to do more cleaning. If it doesn't smell bad then don't worry too much. Keep in mind auto makers plan for a little water during the car's life. So a lot of the cloth is mold and mildew resistant.

 

I hope so it was flooded pretty bad, but I guess the 85+ temperature dryed it out fast. It doesnt really smell but its hard to tell now because i've sprayed febreeze a few times to eliminate the musky old sock smell at first.

I've read that some mold can kill you?! Is it worth replacing my whole carpets?

 

If your worried about it you can. Or just have them cleaned by a detail shop.
I've been in some pretty raunchy cars and i'm still alive if that means anything.

 

Actually i forgot to mention right after the hurricane the car spit out about 1/2 gallon of water out of the exaust and gurgled for the next 2 days!!

 

that was probably just water in the exhaust but still worries me. I would get rid of the car in the next year or so if i were you. Just to avoid electrical problems

 

This is just my opinion. I would take the carpet out of the car and clean it with a steam cleaning machine (like a rug doctor you can rent from the stores, usually retail stores have them). If the padding under the carpet is still wet after this much time, I would be worried about mold, mildew, and rotting out the floor of the car. I would steam clean it then hang it out on a clothes line on a sunny day to let it dry out. Then when you put it back in you will have very clean carpet and no worries. Just a suggestion. Good luck with it.

 

Is it too late to use a wetvac now, 2 weeks later to get the excess water out?

 

I'm not talking about a wet-vac. A steam cleaning machine with the solution that comes with the machine. But I would take the carpet out of the car, to do it. It will not suck the water out from under the padding, I don't think. I would hang the padding out to dry.

 

If it was fresh water, you at least have a chance. As mentioned before, your carpet will be the source of mildew, mold and that really unpleasant odor we all know. If it can be separated, I would agree about steam cleaning the carpet, but ****-can the insulation/backing and replace with new material. What's in there is going to stay in there. You may find you have several electronic / electrical issues spring up over the next few months; but no where as bad as if it were flooded with salt water.
If it was Salt Water; clean it up nice-nice, rent an apartment three counties over and sell it to a total stranger. Why? You're gonna be doomed (Doomed I say!) to chasing electrical problems until you declare Bankruptcy. Salt Water (along with salt moisture) don't play well with electrical components, and the resulting electrical problems will never end.

"Ryan, Be careful, things in here don't react well to salt water (sic) bullets"
(apologies to Sean Connery)

P

 

P, you are the funniest SOB on the planet. I almost choked on my supper.

 

Thanks for the kind words.
I pull from my experiences teaching my (then 13) son how to build computers. I'd keep it light hearted and throw something totally unexpected into the mix. From that moment he paid attention 'cuz he never knew when I was zinging him; and it made him THINK.
Much the same of what I do here. I give guidance, solicit comments from time to time and give examples of what I'm pointing out.

What I'll never do is start reading the service manual to them. They'll be lost in a heartbeat.

Hope the"Heimlich" worked out........

P

 

I'll have to learn to finish chewing before I read one of your posts. Keep it up, I love it.

 

Would this stuff help at all with mold/smell

http://www.damprid.com

I put 2 bags in last night

 

I haven't had any personal experience with that product, so I can't vouch for it, one way or another.
I'm still of the opinion to replace the carpet insulation. Not only for the mold odor, but also the mold growing under the carpet. What you're looking at won't penetrate below the carpet surface. You'd probably get as good a results from Cat Litter (Scented)
I'm convinced that if you leave it there (the carpet insulation), by one month down the road your carpet will be turning some really exotic colours; and the mold colony underneith will be mature enough to vote.
Who needs cloning? You'll have a new species living under your carpet. Hope it doesn't get hungry.

 

I can vouch for fabreeze at least on pet dander and cig. smoke (previous owner was freaking nasty!). I've also read stuff about using charcoal to remove smells. Definitely shampoo it, I don't know about removing the carpet. I shampood (is that a word?) the crap out of my car and couldn't believe the tar and stuff I pulled from it. Like he said once its dry its gonna stay there but you can at least remove the dirt and the smell. How'd the water get in anyways, you got bad door seals or something (cars in general are pretty waterproof, hence floats in water for a bit)?

And as much as I like The Hunt for Red October I gotta tell ya, read the book!

 

Read the post man. PLEASE!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BLKFLSH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Read the post man. PLEASE!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did, where you going with this (other than starting a pissing contest)? Short of water being over the windows it shouldn't have gotten wet.

 

It's a car, not a boat. It will not float.

 

uh if you drive a car into a pond it'll float for a few minutes depending on the car and if you broke windows (with the exception of a 500 lb fat woman in the car)

watch an old 80's movie sometime...its undeniable

 

I'd just pull your carpet all the way out and clean it. It shouldn't take you more than an hour to get it out. You may find that water isn't drying easily where you have pads in the back seats. Plus you can do a thorough cleaning to prevent mold and buying a new carpet. I do this every couple of years any car i've owned. I use carpet cleaner for home carpets. It will look brand new, smell better, and it's easy. The only bad thing is it may take more than a day to dry. Even with a wet vac it seemed to take more than a day unless it was like 90-100 out. You can still just bolt down your seats and drive without a carpet for a day or two. That way you don't have to worry about water lingering under you carpet, mold, and you will have a pretty much new carpet. Any stains will be gone too.

 

When my wife's '87 Celebrity was stolen (YES, we were young and stupid, OK?), the Insurance Company insisted the carpet insulation be changed out, the interior sheet metal disinfected and repainted; all for health concerns. And all that was only because they busted two windows and the car filled with 3" of water.
I've also seen this with Water Leak Warranty Repairs, authorized by General Motors to replace the carpet "liner" for mold concerns.

P

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by talontsiawd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd just pull your carpet all the way out and clean it. It shouldn't take you more than an hour to get it out. You may find that water isn't drying easily where you have pads in the back seats. Plus you can do a thorough cleaning to prevent mold and buying a new carpet. I do this every couple of years any car i've owned. I use carpet cleaner for home carpets. It will look brand new, smell better, and it's easy. The only bad thing is it may take more than a day to dry. Even with a wet vac it seemed to take more than a day unless it was like 90-100 out. You can still just bolt down your seats and drive without a carpet for a day or two. That way you don't have to worry about water lingering under you carpet, mold, and you will have a pretty much new carpet. Any stains will be gone too.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I dont understand your post, you want me to clean my carpets. But you also want me to replace them?